I know, it is probably just one of the many things I need to learn to live with. My condition may actually include POTS. I also get the blood pooling in my feet and legs - sometimes worse than others. I have been diagnosed with SFN and do have some sensory problems. Bit, most of my problems are autonomic - just don't know specifically what it is (e.g., POTS). My neurologist was set to run autonomic tests but I could not go off of my meds because of my arthritis. He feels that the meds I take can hinder the results. He thought we can do the tests when I have a "really bad flare". Well, I hope I never get a "really bad flare" again, although I am sure it will happen again as some point. I do have autonomic problems - pretty much daily; gastroparesis and such. The itching is probably just part of it as it occurs when I have the tingling, etc.

Thanks for your help.

I don't know, it only happens when I get the flushing. To the point where I feel the flush, my face feels hot and then my nose gets stuffy. Happens like this all the time. It happened to a bad degree day before yesterday and then I developed a severe migraine about an hour later. It is weird. Must be vascular.

Good lord! My husband is sensitive to some clothes detergents - He gets a nasty red rash.

The active ingredients in the Gold Bond product I mentioned are Menthol (which provides a cooling sensation) and Pramoxine Hydrochloride (a topical anesthetic used in many hydrocortisone creams, Neosporin, and others).

Yes, I have minor itchy "feelings." I know they are not dermatology related. They are coming from within, definitely a nerve type sensation. Mostly on scalp, but sometimes on bottom of feet.

Oh...........Life never gets boring with this disorder!

How I long to be Bored!!!

Look at this site? http://telemedicine.org/stamford.htm Go down the left hand index to 'Diabetes in Skin Disease' And read the intro and the foreward! on that section. THEN look at pics and be aware of how bad it can get if you don't care for yourself. It can be SCARy stuffs....
Thing is, with peripheral nerves damaged, they aren't telling the BRAIN correctly, how to work out the vascular and lymphatic systems [those other 'systems' we have, besides the 'nervous' system?] what to DO properly. Ergo, you don't have to have diabetes to have either a potential or actual mess on your hands and feet.
THAT is why we either swell or not, feel hot when not, or cold when not. Listen to Nide, Cy, Mrs D, Echoes AND ALL about what they experience and connect it to what YOU feel.
The best treatments I've found are to slather good quality lotions [I like Eucerin Calming Creme and Bath Oils] liberally to keep your skin as healthy as it can be for the 'duration', which can last years. Soo? Spoil your skin, you can really be a skin 'diva' in this quarter, and IT PAYS OFF!.. Happy skin, Happier skin healing, and thus surface nerves... Would you want to be like a diabetic ignoring ulcers that put them in the hospital etc? Not me, hopefully not you. Read the above stuff, and use common sense... Good things to all! - j

As I said earlier, my itching is deep within my foot, not on my skin itself.. but I have noticed how horrible my skin on my feet has gotten. It looks and feels like leather--at least the majority of it does.

But, my skin is so extremely sensitive anyway.. and the PN has added to that. I can hardly stand to let plain water touch my feet. I try to put lotion on my feet as often as I can tolerate (which is only a few times a week, sometimes less).. but I can only find one kind that doesn't irritate me, and that is Nivea Soft. It doesn't do anything for me, though... even before the pain got this bad and I was putting it on every day, it did nothing. I can't stand any other chemicals, lotions, or whatever touching my skin... so epsom salts, other brands of lotion, and things will not work for me. It's frustrating.. I'm 24 and should not have skin that looks and feels like leather.

IF your skin is sensitive to some chemicals, it can and does get tricky. The 'sensitive skin' types of things help, as does soaking in some sort of footbath--warm/tepid water w/some baby oils thrown in...
I've tried vasolene for some periods of time as well [but then? you gotta wear socks IN bed...can get messy any which way]
That said, my podiatrist is my tie for medical appointment priorities! I go regularly, HE gets the scalpel and pares those feet and I feel soo much better! He'd been doing it less frequently before I got PN? But now it's about 5-6 weeks before I start 'needing' more. Do keep in mind, that you aren't really feeling what's going on? So treat your feet as IF you had diabetic feet. Watch them, use lotions and potions, use scrubbies to get soft dead skin off asap. Then USE your feet as best you can as much as you can! Once you lose foot and toe tone muscle wise, it IS HARD to get some back and often painful.
Ultimately, slather then scrub off, then slather again ....then repeat. The more YOU do? The fewer scalpels you get to meet! 's - j
And YES the itches are beyond skin deep! Resisting the urge to scratch is hard, but? It doesn't really get to where you need it anyhow! It can get to the point of needing to see your dentist for a 'bite gard' to keep you from grinding your teeth from the ITCHES! -Havent found a tee shirt for it yet tho....

Yikes dahlek, thanks for the info! I will take heed. You are right about things not working properly... my body temperature is always way out of whack... and I know from the migraines that my vascular system is also screwy and directly caused by autonomic neuropathy. Gosh. I also have a feeling that the itchiness in my feet are related to the SFN... I get the buzzy tingling at the same time.

I like Nivea products and have heard good thing about Epsom salts... you are right in that it is just a bit deeper... perhaps one half to one inch deeper from the surface. My feet look awful... They used to be so pretty... I am sorry that you are so young and dealing with this mess...